Corey Crawford, Blackhawks Blank Ducks

The Blackhawks followed an impressive offensive performance in Los Angeles on Monday night with a stellar defensive effort against the top team in the Western Conference to earn two points in Anaheim on Wednesday evening.

Corey Crawford completed a strong shutout performance, stopping all 29 shots the Ducks put on net. He was especially impressive during the five penalties the Hawks successfully killed; 40 seconds of 5-on-3 play in the first period was highlighted by a couple great stops by Chicago’s netminder.

Marian Hossa scored his 24th of the season – the eventual game-winner – only 39 seconds into the second period. As Jonathan Toews attacked the net, Hossa showed great patience and crossed the crease with the puck and allowed Anaheim goalie Jonas Hiller to take himself out of position before putting the puck into the net.

Toews added an insurance goal – his 19th of the season – late in the third period. Hossa was credited with the only assist on Toews’ goal.

In previous games his year, the Hawks had tried to match up Marcus Kruger’s line against the Ducks’ top line with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. But in Anaheim, the Ducks put their top line out against the Toews line and Chicago’s best performed well. Not only did Hossa and Toews scored the game’s only two goals (with an assist for Sharp), but Perry and Getzlaf combined for nine unsuccessful shots on net. Getzlaf won only 10 of 21 faceoffs as well.

Chicago’s defensemen played a good game in front of Crawford. Johnny Oduya was scratched (lower body), which put Michal Rozsival with Niklas Hjalmarsson and Sheldon Brookbank with Nick Leddy. Hjalmarsson was credited with six blocked shots and Rozsival’s line showed four blocked shots and four hits in the game. Leddy played well and was credited with two hits.

At one point, Leddy broke up a rush by Anaheim forward Teemu Selanne. When Selanne made his NHL debut with the Winnipeg Jets in the fall of 1992, Leddy was five months short of his second birthday.

Led by Hjalmarsson and Rozsival, the Hawks blocked 21 shots in the game. Chicago also rebounded nicely in the faceoff circle after getting thoroughly dominated by the Kings earlier in the week. The Hawks won 32 of 59 faceoffs in the game, led by Toews winning 11 of 20 and Ben Smith winning five of seven.

Chicago’s penalty kill resurrection continued on Wednesday night. Since the beginning of the new calendar year, the Hawks have killed 45 of 50 penalties (90 percent), and have climbed to 25th in the NHL for the season.

In spite of a much better performance, Bryan Bickell once again finished with the lowest ice time on the roster. Bickell was credited with two hits in only 9:06, but appeared to have regained some of the confidence that he had lacked since returning from injury.

For Anaheim, Hiller stopped 23 of 25 in the loss.

The Blackhawks’ final game before the Olympic break is Friday night against the Coyotes.

32 thoughts on “Corey Crawford, Blackhawks Blank Ducks”

Could be the best game of the season for Crawford, he was outstanding. His positioning was very good – not a lot of wasted motion of acrobatic saves. He’s on a nice roll lately. I gotta think Q plays CC on Friday too.

Good team effort tonight. Other than a couple bad penalties (I’m looking at you Shaw), the boys were focused and played with a lot of energy. It sure is fun to watch them play when they play that way.

Even though we had a rough patch for a few wks (where we only lost one in regulation) theres always going to be a section of the 82game season where that happens. Give our guys a lot of credit for being hard to beat, during that stretch when we didn’t play our best/or anywhere near it. At the start of that stretch we played really good in those 3in4 nights against other top teams, the 2 against ana and bos, now these ones. I am so proud of our team that when were not playing our best we still did what we did (not mentioning a 2ref system…) and the other top teams, when they wernt playing good look at what they did…

About 2 or so wks ago, I called ana out (check back on the posts from a few wks ago) for a bunch of loses in their next 10 games… Like Brad was right about 4 lines…

With the 2 long road trips of the season, we not only padded our record but it allows to moar games at home every other mth of the yr. Nice blessing in disguise, just like first 10 of 12 on road to start season… 21-0-3. The league gives the redwings 3 days between games because they just play 7games series, not to mention the refs matching minor against Saad. All right I stop. There is something seriously wrong with the sch. makers. Whoever THEY are.

Great D, very familiar looking effort that we got used to last year.. How bout those blocked shots? Who needs a 3 week break?

CC was great, and in a nice groove. He has got to play in AZ

We are getting close to being in constrictor mode, and it doesn’t get much better than choking the life out of a good team. I thought we would play well in Calif. and we did. Actually Very well. Wouldn’t be afraid to use that D lineup again in az either.

Shaw and Sharp, enough! They just can’t keep from it. PK is doing great but those 2 gotta keep pushin the envelope.

Dont want to end on a bad note so….Zus got some nice wins on f/offs tonight, tip of the cap for him.

I can only assume Joel Quenneville decided he wanted Handzus to play with Kane in an attempt to honor the passing of Kane’s grandfather. He gave him one more chance to play hockey with a 75 year old man. Hopefully, it’s the last time. (PS screw Joel Quenneville and the bullshit with Handzus)

Hossa!

Fourth line got absolutely dick stomped on possession. Good thing they played more minutes than the effective 3rd line. We live in a world where Brandon Bollig plays more than Andrew Shaw and Bryan Bickell. Two rings!

Earlier in the season, when everyone was freaking out about the PK, I tried to be the voice of reason to calm people down. Crawford’s PK S% was low and was destined to regress to the mean. The Hawks were one of the best teams in the league at limiting shots on the PK, but goalies were only stopping 80% of pucks put on net. Now, goalies are stopping pucks, PK looks great. Crazy how that works.

One more win at the Coyotes would be a mighty nice way to finish before the Olympic break.

Crow has put together a real nice stretch lately and has been playing some of his best hockey of his career. He has been on top of his crease and aggressive. It was interesting how Joel wasn’t chasing match up like usual and just skated guys as need be. Impressive PK again! Excellent game by Rosey. Q has done a good job w his minutes. 2-0 win no negatives for this fan.

I was worried when I saw BB and Handzus in the line up, but all is well that ends well. I thought the Hawks actually rolled 4 lines pretty well with the 3d and 4th lines taking about 10 of even strength ice time each. You should want 12-13 from your 3d line BUT we were playing the “best” team in the league. These are games where you expect to play your top 6 extra time.

Kudos to Kruger. In addition to his 10 ES minutes he logged 5+ minutes of short handed time…….Best 4th liner in the league IMO. With Bollig’s resurgence and Smith just being a smart & good player, I can see why the 4th line played a bit more than the 3d line in a tight game against ANA.

Shaw is the type of player who will be tough to change. He plays on the edge and penalties will follow. I do not see this as a problem. If you don’t like his style you probably have to trade him. Sharp to me is more worrisome. Unlike Shaw, who takes penalties being aggressive, Sharpie loses his cool. Considering Sharp’s talent and responsibilities, his penalties are worse.

Great game. I thought the Hawks started into prevent mode a little early for just a one goal lead. Crow stood tall and did play his best overall game of the season.

Heck of an effort last night. A very solid road win against a team that kept bringing it all night. Many blocked and missed shots along with one of CC’s best efforts of the season locked up the valuable 2 points. I liked the d men switch ups with 27 out, but zone clears were not very good. Perhaps some credit should be given to Ducks in that regard as they pinched their d men forward to assist an effective forecheck.

PK was phenomenal last night. Zebras doing Hawks no favors recently. Speaking of the refs did anyone catch the numbers from the Blues- Sens game the other night? Ottawa got completely jobbed in that one in the 2nd period and still eked out the extra point. I think Sens were whistled for about 5 or 6 in a row. Sens fans were livid in following day write-ups at tsn.ca.

Kruger, Smith played their butts off last night and have been very good on this road trip. Bollig has played a nice 2 way game. Versteeg is skating better lately in my eyes. Bickell actually did some good things last night at both ends of the ice.. I can’t fault his effort at all the past few games. I see progress on that very important project. We absolutely need Bicks in good form going into playoffs.

As stated by others already, Hossa’s 2 way game was huge again.

Ice looked really terrible last night. Pucks bouncing, rolling all over the place. Can you believe the lack of fans in Anaheim? Best team in the NHL and they can’t fill it up against the Cup winners? The crowd that was there had to be at minimum 30% Hawks fans. Still lots of empty seats around that arena. What’s with WGN camera crew going back multiple times to the same group of drunk obnoxious Hawks fans? There were thousands to choose from. Had to be that camera guy didn’t want to move around. I thought Pat and Eddie O did a better job than they did at Kings game. Sometimes I really feel like switching over to the radio for audio feed, but it can be tough to sync it in.

Phx get the next round of the Hawks Nation invasion. It will be like a home game for the Blackhawks down there with I am sure 30-40% showing the colors. Again, I have to think that drives local fans nutty. I used to boil when Wings fans would invade the UC. As a season ticket holder and a guy that goes to most games, if I could not make it I would NEVER get my seats to Wings fans. The bad thing about those years when the Wings constantly kicked our butts, was their presence at the UC. They were lurking everywhere.

Phil, I had to watch on the Package with ANA announcers, who I have to say are pretty good. Obviously their broadcast did not pan for Hawk fans nor did they say anything, but it sure sounded like there were a lot of them there.

Awesome effort. Mike, agree with Shaw/ Sharp assessment. Shaw has to play “that” game and draws as many penalties as bad ones he takes. That 2nd penalty was a bit iffy. Kneeing?
Hard to find much wrong with our 4th line. 16 steady, 28 smart, 52 serviceable.
Hossa is THE BOSS and that line has been fun to watch.
Still need to find the right linemates for Kane, but difficult when you have 2 lines playing as good as our 1st and 4th lines.
CC has been really good lately. Defense pairs looked good and BB doesn’t even scare me anymore. No need for Kostka on this team.

Bix- best game/skating in LONG time… Hawks need it to continue… was even the first guy below the net a few time… have not seen that much.

10/65- must have some on going bet to see who can take the dumbest penalties…

HOSSA!!!

Crow was solid in position- very good game… but really Ducks 3/4 best chances were “misses” on their part… the Vaatenen cross crease (Crow gave him plenty of room short side- Vaatanen just put it in Crow’s chest)… Perry over the cross bar…

Q- must have seen the same thing we have been seeing- Oduya- looks tired and Pirri isn’t a good skater…

Crawford had his best game of the season. He’s had an up and down time since coming back from the long layoff, but the California stretch has been a good test for him and he seems to be finding his mojo.

Shaw plays with an edge. It is that edge that got him to the NHL and shall keep him in the NHL, and he knows it. Shaw’s game is predicated less on core skill and much more on energy, grit and fearlessness. The dumb penalties are sometimes the deriavative. Q has done a masterful job of making Shaw into a viable and good NHL player. Take away any of his edge or ask him to “play in control” and he finds himself toiling in the AHL. Nuff said on that.

Handzus had a good game from what I saw thru the 2nd period. This game was won because of a smothering focus on defense in front of great goaltending by Crow. Pirri the Rockford Wonder Dog was not going to be the right lineup insertion in a game like that. I don’t mind Pirri being here, but there is a limit to how much he should play and Q has a firm grasp on that.

Playing with an edge means borderline hits. Not constant hooking and tripping infractions. There is nothing about borderline about being careless/stupid with your stick.

There is also a limit to how much Handzus should play, Q doesn’t have a grasp on that. Unless you are in the boat that thinks the Hawks are better when Handzus plays with Kane… if you are in that boat, I hope it sinks.

Agreed JS about players being responsible for stick penalties. Zus playing with 88 clearly equals a reduced Kane. Zus played last night for defensive purposes as I am sure Q felt this would be a tight game. Net result was good team D and a huge Hawks win that the rest of the league will take notice of. I still think the Hawks fly below the radar which is great. Pressure to Blues, Ducks, Sharks, and Avs to play at their best to keep up. Barring serious injury issues come playoff time, I believe we are the team to beat even though stats point to difficulty in repeating.

Very strong night by the d-men all around. Nice to see Rozy and BB both play strong games. I’ve got to call out the comment about the 4th line getting stomped on possession – they played a number of shifts against one of the top lines in the league and while they didn’t dominate they held Getzlaf, Perry et al off the score sheet! Probably not many 4th lines in the league that can do that. Thought Krueger continues to be very impressive and is exhibiting a lot of confidence. He had a great block on Perry’s shot from the slot in the 3rd.

Penalty kills looked a lot like the 2010 style. Very encouraging
to see the consistent effort on the road. My belief was, this squad
is right there to take it, just like last year. Q gets the
benefit of the doubt, as stubborn as he can be. 32 gets my
Player of the Game. Solid & Dependable.

MS- the fourth line isn’t really a fourth line. They are regularly used as the main checking line. However, they have some of the worst possession numbers out there so it would lead you to believe that they can’t maintain that luck throughout an entire season. I’m just hoping it blows up before playoff time so they have an opportunity to fix it. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the first round the main checking line was Smith, Kruger, and Versteeg with Bollig as a healthy scratch.

I feel like people forget the playoffs last year when Leddy was barely used and Rozy was skating 20 minutes a night. I’m hoping there is a little more trust in Leddy this year.

And Phil, it’s even more likely to be a tight scoring game if you neuter one of the best offensive weapons in the league!

JS – where do you get the info that shows the 4th line has “some of the worst possession numbers out there”. I don’t have any stats – so maybe you’re correct, but it seems that the 4th line spends a lot of time in the opponent’s d-zone … so something does not compute.

For me, the 1st and 4th lines are playing well and I wouldn’t change them. Bollig has finally grown on me and I think complements the 4th line quite nicely. Same with Smith, who has taken a while for me to warm up to. It’s fun to think about replacing Bollig and Smith next season with a couple new shiny object, aka prospects, but Bollig and Smith are here and doing pretty well against NHL competition, often times the opponent’s top line.

I guess I should have said worst relative to the Hawks. On the second best possession team in the league, they are the bottom 3 regulars in both Corsi and Fenwick. They are actually the only 3 on the team that are underwater on Corsi.

Last night they had a Corsi for % of 13.3%, 14.3%, 14.3%. And that’s with most of the game being against the second line rather than the first.

Great game by the Hawks Team Defence…and Crawford was very good as well…good comment by ER on CC…no wasted motion…when CC plays that robotic, well positioned game, he has good rebound control and maintains position in case of rebounds…when he is flopping around, his numbers aren’t great, especially on the PK…

As JS said you knew CC’s numbers had to get better, especially on the PK, as he’s just too good of a goalie not to respond…but for CC on the PK, it is ALL ABOUT positioning…let’s hope what we saw last night, is CC getting into a groove for the playoffs.

JS the line about Zus/Kane was hilarious…I almost did a spit take…as Phil said, Zus was dressed for defensive purposes in what Q thought was going to be a tight, defensive struggle…and he was right…but what made this work was the fact that Zus was FRESH playing every other game, and skated REGULAR minutes…which meant the Hawks rolled 4 lines again, and yet again, won…

The bottom 6 forward don’t really have to contribute much in the way of goals and assists…its minutes skated…corsi %, +/-, face-offs and taking the body…this keeps our top 6 forwards fresh and strong throughout the game…and when we do this, our games don’t go into OT…we win in regulation…

As I said before, there is no Cup “Hangover”…the Hawks possess the rarest of combinations in NHL history…we have a core group that has elite talent, has HOF compete levels, and brings it every night…the ONLY way this team has gotten itself into trouble is when Q has altered the lineups causing only 3, sometimes even 2 lines to roll, making for VERY tired hockey players…and someone said this yesterday, I can’t remember who it was, but it was a great comment…the Hawks play an aggressive, fast paced style of game, that leaves them “spent” after every shift..so when they have a longer rest between shifts, because 4 lines are rolling, it makes Toews, Hossa, Sharp, Kane, Saad, Versteeg LETHAL with the puck and on the back check…

THIS is why we will repeat this season and win a few more Cups over the next decade…because our elite play hard EVERY SHIFT…and with Legends on this team like Hossa and Toews, they will ensure this mind set is passed to the next generation of elite players like TT…

Also, average save % with Bollig on the ice is 91.8 with Kruger on the ice it is 92.2 with Toews it is 91.2 and Hossa is at 92.5 and Crawfords Save % on the year is 91.6

On ice goals against / 60 are 2.04 and 2.09 for Kooga and Bollig and for Toews it is 2.36 and Hossa 1.96

Soooooooo if Kooga, Bollig and Smith are being outshot by a wide margin, that number will normalize and the goals will start pouring in.

OR

Kooga Bollig and Smith are giving up a similar amount of chances per 60 but generating fewer themselves so that stat line could be no harbinger at all just some kind of outlier due to lack of O zone starts and getting yanked off the ice as soon as they dump the puck in most situations.

Thanks JS. I confess to being too set in my old ways to get into all the new metrics available. Just seems like too much of a bother to me, but saying that, I know I’m the out-a-step-Charlie on this one. Eh, can’t teach an old dog new tricks if the old dog ain’t interested. Regardless what the facts say, my eyes tell me that 52-16-28 play pretty well for a 4th line who often play against the opponent’s top line, so I think the 4th line is just fine.

Totally agree with last two-Sr. B and E. R about 4th line-they are playing well and deserve getting ice time. Kruger has been exceptional and seems to be able to play in the dirty spots . We need 4 lines for the regular part of the season and less so in the playoffs but even then they will be needed to give the top 9 a break and at times soften up the other teams defense.
Can’t be too critical of Shaw, and my guess is his teammates love him.

JS, Yea Im seeing what your seeing in 23 with 16 & 28 for playoffs. Even though it is our 4th line (Steeger on the 4th line, wait/what…) Its the same thing as Bolly on the 4th ine with Krugs & Frozal. A line with those type of players is good for another ‘checking’ line, like most have said its not your typical 4th line. We have Quality Depth.

I think we add a center/fw at deadline. Now whether that’s a legwand, goc or a who, that’s Bowman game. Basically every time Bowman get what he wants & its usually a good deal (doesn’t overpay). I am ok with a overpay this year (picks), if it can get us who/type we want/better fit for our roster & with our guys.

Yea, like JS said I think were looking at something like this for playoffs. This is strong lines.

10-19-81
20-c-88
29-65-fw
23-16-28
52

At center 37or26 and depending on who/type-position we add at deadline will sort out the 3rd line right.

When Bicks is healthy and playing good for him… We now have moar quality depth, like when that we had (bolly) have (steeger) on the 4th line.

I think 52 plays in more playoffs games then he did when Stals was out. Though when we added 11 & once 36 was healthy again, 46 didn’t in that many playoff games, same with 52 when we got 26. Whatever we do for these positions, its always better to have too many guys for the 12 roster fw. We need everyone.